nightlifemumbai

- by Deepa Krishnan Yesterday at The Magic Room, I attended a marvellous session organized by Expansions (curated by Sarayu Kamat). We listened to the very erudite scholar Dr. Harsha Dehejia speak on the many moods of Krishna Kavya. I do not reside in Vaikuntha,  nor in the hearts of yogis. Where my Bhaktas sing my songs,  there I reside, O Narada! The invitation for the event said: "Krishna’s romantic presence is best understood as kavya and not as a katha, and that too as muktak, or fragmented moment of romantic pleasure. While enjoying the sensuality of Krishna’s shringara, a committed Rasika will endeavour to move it to shringar bhakti. Krishna shringara ultimately should lead to brahma jnana and therefore ananda" It was a pleasure listening to Dr. Dehejia, as he led us through the history of Indian Aesthetics, from the Vedas and the Upanishads, down to Brathrhari (Vakyapadiya, Sphota theory), Bharatamuni (Natyashastra, rasa theory), and Abhinavagupta (commenta...

- by Deepa Krishnan In the late 1700's and early 1800's, Jews from Iraq began arriving in Calcutta and Mumbai. It was not the first time Arabic speaking Jews had made their presence felt in India. The Great Mughal Akbar had a Jew in his court, and so did some subsequent Mughal emperors. Surat was one of the major ports of the Mughal empire, and Jewish merchants were well-established there, trading with the British East India Company. As Mumbai prospered in the 1800's, Jews from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen began arriving in Mumbai in significant numbers. A lot of them came from Iraq, and so they were called Baghdadi Jews. There was already another Jewish community in Mumbai, the Bene-Israel (Children of Israel). Believed to be one of the "ten lost tribes" of Israel, they had been in India for many centuries. The Bene-Israel were quite different from the Baghdadis - they spoke Marathi, and looked more Indian than Middle-Eastern. After many centuries in Mahara...

- by Deepa Krishnan Haji Ali dargah has been in the news lately, because of the agitation to allow women into the sanctum. I went there a couple of years ago, when we were not allowed to access the mazar (mausoleum). There was a side-door, through which women could go up to a certain point.  Thus far and no further Closest that women can get to the tomb Given the way the access is organised, with multiple gates and enough space for queuing, it would be really easy to ensure equal but segregated access to the mazar for men and women. Women don't particularly want to jostle with men, anyway. It could work just like a traffic light, no? If we can manage cars, why not humans?  To deny women and allow only men, is a really jaundiced view of the world. The sooner we change such mindsets, the better. Prayer area outside I posted a series of 30 photos, showing the common areas, as well as the women-only areas. You can see the photos here, on the Mumbai Magic page . This is a beautifu...

- By Deepa Krishnan I had a fabulous time at the Girgaum Chowpatty Visarjan this year. Actually it took me completely by surprise, because they have enforced a STRICT ban on drums and noise. I went there expecting to be deafened by the noise. In fact, I even bought ear-plugs! But in spite of the thousands and thousands of people, there was no crazy noise. There were no big drums and no clang-clang-clang to burst the eardrums. The processions were colourful and full of tamasha, there were people singing with small cymbals and chanting "Ganpati Bappa Morya! Pudhchya Varshi Laukar Ya!". But we did not go deaf with the noise! At a couple of places there were horrible loudspeakers, where sponsors were distributing free drinks and food, and they thought that gave them the right to shout over the speakers. But overall, it was not an assault on the ears. The police have a very major presence and are very helpful to direct people and maintain crowd control.  This is our group, at C...

- By Deepa Krishnan I was walking along Dadar Kabootarkhana yesterday, and I spotted someone going from stall to stall, with the Goddess balanced on the head.  It is summer now, and this is the time of rashes and other skin ailments. Mari-aai, also called Mariamman, Renuka, Ekvira or Yellamma, is a major folk goddess in the Deccan/South India. She is very powerful - her wrath can bring disease, but she is equally capable of blessing people. She cures all ailments, especially the pox, she blesses the infertile with children, and brings prosperity to the village. There are several temples to this powerful goddess in Maharashtra - but if you cannot make the journey to the temple, then "no problem" !! You can get the blessings of the goddess right where you are, because she comes a-visiting, assisted by nomadic intermediaries. The person carrying the goddess was a hijra, a third gender person. In exchange for a few coins, many stall-owners at Kabootarkhana were receiving be...

- By Deepa Krishnan Ever since the monsoon season started, I have been wanting to see the Western Ghats in all their green glory. Finally we found the time, a perfect day, half sunny, half cloudy, and we set out for the Buddhist Caves at Bedse.  The mountains ahead of us Most people living in Bombay don't know that the spread of Buddhism on the West Coast of India began in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region; in what we today call Nallasopara (the next train station on the Western line immediately after Vasai). The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (273 to 276 BC) sent an emissary called Dharmarakshita to Sopara (it was at that time major trading port). Ashoka's Edict at Sopara is now in the Prince of Wales Museum, but you can see a photo and translation of the edict here.  The Buddhist monks found the perpendicular cliffs of the Sahyadris eminently suitable for their monsoon prayer retreats. What may have started as a small rock-excavation experiment of the monks turned into a very majo...

 - By Deepa Krishnan I've been doing a lot of food walks lately. Last month I did a Matunga food-walk for the BMW-Guggenheim Foundation, as part of a 3-week Mumbai event that they organised. At the start of the walk, the organiser from BMW-Guggenheim Lab explains what the  lab is all about A food walk is, of course, a wonderful way to understand a country. Especially in India, where food is not just a personal dietary preference; but a reflection of a way of life. Our walk began outside the Astika Samaj temple, where I explained to the group how as a Palakkad Brahmin, I have so many  "food memories" associated with the temple.  The Samaj has been painted afresh as part of a major kumbhabhishekam ceremony.  But for me, this temple is more about food than religion :) :) For me, Astika Samaj will always be associated with their wonderfully dark nei-payasam which our neighbour Moorthy-mami brings us as prasadam (recipe here). Made of ghee, jaggery and rice, the p...

- By Deepa Krishnan On my morning walk, I passed by the Jain temple in our neighbourhood. It was a beautiful calming sight. Jain Temple, King's Circle, Mumbai I paused for a few minutes to think of Mahavira, the founder of the Jain religion, who preached what is perhaps the most relevant message for our times: tolerance for multiple views .  Mahavira's philosophy of anekantvad   - which translates literally to "multiple-view-ism" - is central to the Jain doctrine.  In its most basic form, anekantvad means that there are multiple perceptions of Truth, and that no single point of view can be considered absolutely right. Quite different from dogmatic religions that insist it's "my way or the highway"! In its more sophisticated philosophical interpretations, what anekantvad really says is that  the universe and everything in it, i.e. the objects of our perception, are infinite in their qualities. Whereas human perception is finite, and what's more, each ...

- By Deepa Krishnan If you drive past Byculla, you'll spot this handsome building on the main road. I've always wondered what this building is about, especially given the prominent logo in the middle. The logo looked vaguely Christian to me, but could well have been something Jewish or Zoroastrian. Today I did some searching around, and found out: this is Seva Niketan, a Christian Life Community (CLC) centre in Mumbai. The CLC is what is called a Sodality; a group of lay Christian people who get together for their own spiritual upliftment and to do pious acts and charity. The CLC congregations have traditionally been led by Jesuit priests.  In case you didn't know who the Jesuits are, they are a group of trained priests, who on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church, do missionary work. Ignatius of Loyola was the founder of the Jesuit order (the correct name is the Society of Jesus). Loyola is a small village in Spain. It was Ignatius who sent Franci...

- By Deepa Krishnan I am having a magical Sunday morning, listening to this great lady sing.  This is M S Subbulakshmi, and she is singing Swati Thirunal's famous Aliveni . Her voice brings to my mind, visions of a blue-skinned lotus-navelled Lord Vishnu. The maiden yearns for a tryst with this beautiful God, and begs her friend to go fetch him. In her anguish, she wonders - why is he late? Is he dallying with someone else? She praises her friend, showers kind words on her, and begs her to go and bring him. In case you didn't know, Swati Thirunal Rama Varma was the ruler of the Travancore kingdom. He died in 1846 at the very young age of 33; but not before leaving behind an incredible legacy of poetry and song. How does a king manage to write like this? This is a woman's voice! Her love and longing! But he so beautifully becomes that voice...he dissolves the lines between personal and religious, creating an atmosphere of ecstatic longing for the Divine. Truly this King is n...